A few years ago, a man who had chosen to leave the church, asked for an appointment. We set a time for him to come in. I didn’t know what he had on his mind but was certain he was coming to seek my sage advice and wise counsel. But when he arrived, something quite different took place. He was not at all interested in my wisdom. In fact, he came to tell me all the areas of my teaching with which he disagreed. According to him, I knew nothing about the Scripture and should just hang it up and quit.
I would love to tell you that I responded in grace and we talked though our differences in kindness and gentleness. However, this is not what happened. Instead of responding in love, I reacted in irritation. Although I did not lose my temper, I made it clear that I did know what I was talking about and I didn’t appreciate him challenging my ministry.
As I reflected on this situation, God stabbed my mind with the truth of his Word. In 2 Timothy 2:23-25, the Apostle Paul wrote this to a young preacher, “Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. 24 And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. 25 Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth,” In the middle of the instruction to respond to questions with kindness and to avoid arguments, men of God are told to be able to teach.
We need to be cautious not to think about this phrase through our current mindset. We often think of teaching as an official position in the church or a home Bible study. However, to the Apostle, teaching is the natural response to those who have questions concerning our spiritual journey. Peter says it like this in 1 Peter 3:15, “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.” Again, we are reminded that our purpose is not to simply react to questions by driving home the truth, but to respond with the truth in gentleness and respect.
As men pursuing righteousness, this requires three things from us. The first is that we must be characterized by spiritual and emotional maturity. Our purpose is not to be proven right, but to prove God worthy. Therefore our attitude toward the questioner is important. People could choose to reject the truth because we seem harsh or quarrelsome. Secondly, we must stand firm in our conviction that the Word of God is true. We dare not back down simply to keep the peace. Thirdly, we need to know the Word of God, so we are prepared to offer God’s answers not our own arguments.
Speaking the truth in love is a means of assuring we are strong in our beliefs while not driving someone away with out attitude. This is a discipline we must learn as we mature in our spiritual journey.
NOTE: I will not be publishing a post for next week. We will resume on June 7th.